Botswana: off-road safari.

Happy 2022. I decided to resurrect my travel blog as I do not know when I will be able to go on the adventure of my dreams. While we can hope that the pandemic will abate in 2022, it is very likely that some of the remote parts of the world in which I am most interested will not be safe or easy to access for a while. Besides, there's nothing like a little traveling from a sofa on a lazy Sunday afternoon to nurture my wanderlusting soul.

Botswana -- that's where I left off last year. I really do not know that much about it, other than it is a landlocked country north of South Africa and one can go on safari there. 

The video I selected here is a visual vacation with no narration and African music to help transport you. I have never been on a safari IRL and was a little stunned to see some graphic footage of animals eating their prey.   

Bosnia and Herzegovina: beyond the war.

When I saw that Bosnia and Herzegovina was next up on the list of countries I would visit from my sofa, all that came to mind was the war in the 1990s and Miss Sarajevo, a war protest song by U2 and Luciano Pavarotti.

While any place is more than its wars and its conflicts, those wars and conflicts are part of that place's current context. The first 10 minutes of this BBC travel show showcase Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, since that war took place more than 25 years ago. The 1984 Winter Olympics were held in Sarajevo and the luge chute that was used as a hiding place during the war is now a place where people can seek thrills on bicycles. The Holiday Inn where journalists who covered the war stayed has been restored -- and still shines from the humanity of the people who worked there during the war.

Go to Sarajevo -- not only to see what happened to the "Jerusalem of Europe" -- but to discover the soul of a place that has been ground zero for the thrill of victory...and the agony of defeat.

Bolivia: alpacas supporting the livelihood of Andean people.

 

Yesterday I took a yoga class at the Blue Alpaca Ranch & Store in Belfast, Maine. Not knowing much about this pack animal, I did some research today and discovered that they are an important source of income for the Andean people in Bolivia. They are gentle, they are soft, and they interact with people.

This four-minute video depicts how the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development has helped revitalize rural Bolivia.

Bhutan: where progress is measured by gross national happiness.

This video, courtesy of CBS Sunday Morning, makes me want to jump on a plane and become one of the 57,000 visitors to Bhutan each year. The hiking, the spirituality, the warmth of the people, are just some of the things that people enjoy in Bhutan.

That said, the most intriguing aspect of Bhutan is that they measure progress by gross national happiness. According to The Borgen Project, this index is comprised of nine variables:

1. Psychological well-being

2. Health

3. Education

4. Use of time

5. Cultural diversity and resilience

6. Good governance

7. Community vitality

8. Ecological diversity and resilience

9. Living standards

Perhaps more countries should consider measuring happiness as the ultimate aim of our lives...

 

Benin: birthplace of voodoo.

As I was conducting research for this post, I wanted to write about something other than blood diamonds which I mistakenly believed came from Benin. Upon further research I discovered that blood diamonds were sourced from African nations that underwent civil wars during the 20th and 21st century, namely Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, and Sierra Leone (thank you, Wikipedia). I likely misattributed blood diamonds to Benin because the actor who played the lead role in Blood Diamonds, Djimon Honsou, hailed from the country.

Djimon Honsou also starred in a film about voodoo in Benin. Again, I made the mistake of thinking that voodoo originated in Haiti. Previously, I had little concept for what voodoo was, other than a cartoonish concept that witches cast spells on people they didn't like by sticking needles into their effigies. In reality and for the most part, people in Benin practice voodoo to communicate with good spirits who can provide them with healing. This five-minute video from National Geographic features the journey of a man whose young daughter was called by the spirits to become a medium.

For a more in-depth (and graphic) introduction to voodoo, click here to watch the story of a man who wanted to learn more about voodoo, so he became an apprentice. This 25-minute film is graphic and I had to avert my eyes on a few occasions, but it is worth watching for the deeper insight into the voodoo rituals in which believers practice.

Belize: Great Blue Hole.

The last vacation my husband and I took before the pandemic was to Belize. It was more of a "rest and relaxation" than adventure trip, so we stayed at a resort and read a lot of books.

If we ever make it to that part of the world again, I would like to explore the Great Blue Hole, a massive sinkhole made famous by ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau who declared it to be one of the five best scuba diving sites in the world.

This sinkhole is 175 meters deep and serves as a record of eons of history. Once you get beyond 100 meters, you no longer encounter sea life. But you do encounter submerged caves (that were once above ground) and stalactites.

You can explore the Great Blue Hole by diving -- but you can also take a helicopter tour and witness it from the sky.

Belgium: why is their chocolate SO SPECIAL?

I am a chocolate addict. I do not believe I have ever encountered chocolate that I did not appreciate -- even varieties on the cheaper end. That said, I always knew that Belgian chocolate was special -- but did not know why. Check out this three-minute to discover their magic ingredient.